Police officers on patrol in George Town talk to media about crime prevention

(CNS): A 22-year-old-man from West Bay spent the night in jail Saturday after police found a machete in his car and arrested him on suspicion of possessing a restricted weapon at night. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said that just before 9:00pm, a member of a George Town Business Watch alerted officers out on high visibility patrols in the business areas about a suspicious male and gave them a description of him. When officers found the man they searched him and his car, in which they found the machete. He has since been bailed while the investigation progresses.

Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay said the incident showed what can be achieved through close working with the community and community watch groups.

“Officers have been and will continue to be out in numbers during the festive period in order to provide additional crime reduction and reassurance patrols and we are encouraging the community to continue to be vigilant and feed information into the police as soon as they see something that they believe to be suspicious or unlawful,” he said.

The RCIPS offered tips to help ensure a safe and crime free holiday period:

Review your CCTV and make sure that they are working well and that the lenses are clean and are not being obstructed by anything, such as Christmas decorations.

Ensure that your property is well lit at night.

Ensure that you remove your valuables from your vehicles, including cash and coins.

If you are the owner of a business that will be working extra hours and expected to have high traffic, hire extra security and make additional cash drop offs throughout the day to ensure that all the cash for the day does not remain overnight.

Remember that the following days are holiday and banks will be closed. Make preparations to secure your cash at the end of your business day.

The RCIPS will also be making road safety efforts throughout the holiday season and is encouraging people not to drink and drive. The Designated Driver Campaign is in full swing and the Purple Ribbon Bus service will be out on New Year’s Eve.

Comments (30)

Well I don’t know about you all, but if you come into my house I definitely going to chop you up with a machete and several knives. So be warned. If one knocks at the door and no one answers do not come in.

No. Because carrying a weapon for the purposes of self-defense means it is being carried for a premeditated purpose of being used to commit or threaten violence. Self defense is not a defense if it’s premeditated.

Cayman law doesn’t allow for carrying weapons specifically for such a purpose.

Now if you find yourself in a situation requiring self-defense and happen to find a machete lying around…

7.10am At least they are working hard at making a living. Are you suggesting that all gardeners travelling to work be arrested, except of course if they are Caymanian, but that would be unlikely given their work ethic.

81. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person who without any lawful excuse (the proof of which excuse shall be on such person) has or carries any restricted weapon, not being a prohibited weapon, by night –
(a) in a cinema, theatre or other place of public assembly;
(b) in a club, restaurant, recreation hall or bar;
(c) in a place of public entertainment of any kind or a place of
general resort, admission to which is obtained by payment or to
which the public have access;
(d) in or upon the car park, parking lot or precincts of a place referred
to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c); or
(e) in or on a vehicle that is in or upon the car park, parking lot or
precincts of a place referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c),
commits an offence and is liable to a fine of five thousand dollars and to imprisonment for four years.
(2) If the restricted weapon is a machete or knife, no person shall be deemed to have committed an offence against this section if he shall prove that he had or was carrying such machete or knife for some lawful purpose for which such machete or knife was necessary.

There is a machete in my vehicle all the time, plus other dastardly implements like hammers, pipe wrench, drywall ax, pipe and bar clamps, etc. etc.

CNS, would you detail for us this legislation “possessing a restricted weapon at night”? I don’t recall it from the Penal Code. I also don’t recall a machete being considered a ‘restricted weapon’.

Can you reach out to the RCIPS and enlighten us? I am in general support of the RCIPS, and I’m thinking there is more to this story than the mere possession of a mere machete.

CNS: I had wondered about that too but it will be hard to get answers over the holidays and we didn’t want to delay posting the story. I will pass the question over to Auntie: When is a machete considered a restricted weapon and when is it just a tool?

CNS and B Z 6 :58 pm , that’s a very valid question , because the Police clearly stated in possession of a restricted weapon at “night” so sound like it OK in the day time . Then what kind of Law that would be .

There’s a lot of things like that needs to be addressed and clarify. I was watching a program last night that exposed the $2.00 drug test kits that the Police carry in the car to test drugs on the scene, and was found to analyze wrong , because the guy who they arrested told the Officer that what they are saying is drugs is actually sweetner and he proved it to the Officer .

It’s a restricted weapon for use during the day for gardening. It’s illegal to have it in your car at night, or in your hand during a robbery at a convenience store, or to slap apart a parking lot bar fight.

No, safety is too important to depend on the government for it, and there is no chance my machete will ever be questioned by the police. Whether self defense is a lawful purpose at night seems an open question as well.